PCRE2\_CONFIG(3) Library Functions Manual PCRE2\_CONFIG(3)

# [NAME](#NAME)

PCRE2 - Perl-compatible regular expressions (revised API)

# [SYNOPSIS](#SYNOPSIS)

**#include <pcre2.h>**

```
int pcre2_config(uint32_t what, void *where);
```

# [DESCRIPTION](#DESCRIPTION)

This function makes it possible for a client program to find out which optional features are available in the version of the PCRE2 library it is using. The arguments are as follows:

*what* A code specifying what information is required  
*where* Points to where to put the information

If *where* is NULL, the function returns the amount of memory needed for the requested information. When the information is a string, the value is in code units; for other types of data it is in bytes.

If **where** is not NULL, for PCRE2\_CONFIG\_JITTARGET, PCRE2\_CONFIG\_UNICODE\_VERSION, and PCRE2\_CONFIG\_VERSION it must point to a buffer that is large enough to hold the string. For all other codes it must point to a uint32\_t integer variable. The available codes are:

PCRE2\_CONFIG\_BSR Indicates what \\R matches by default:  
PCRE2\_BSR\_UNICODE  
PCRE2\_BSR\_ANYCRLF  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_COMPILED\_WIDTHS Which of 8/16/32 support was compiled  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_DEPTHLIMIT Default backtracking depth limit  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_EFFECTIVE\_LINKSIZE How many bytes are used for link size  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_HEAPLIMIT Default heap memory limit  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_JIT Availability of just-in-time compiler  
support (1=yes 0=no)  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_JITTARGET Information (a string) about the target  
architecture for the JIT compiler  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_LINKSIZE Configured internal link size (2, 3, 4)  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_MATCHLIMIT Default internal resource limit  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_NEVER\_BACKSLASH\_C Whether or not \\C is disabled  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_NEWLINE Code for the default newline sequence:  
PCRE2\_NEWLINE\_CR  
PCRE2\_NEWLINE\_LF  
PCRE2\_NEWLINE\_CRLF  
PCRE2\_NEWLINE\_ANY  
PCRE2\_NEWLINE\_ANYCRLF  
PCRE2\_NEWLINE\_NUL  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_PARENSLIMIT Default parentheses nesting limit  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_RECURSIONLIMIT Obsolete: use PCRE2\_CONFIG\_DEPTHLIMIT  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_STACKRECURSE Obsolete: always returns 0  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_UNICODE Availability of Unicode support  
(1=yes 0=no)  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_UNICODE\_VERSION The Unicode version (a string)  
PCRE2\_CONFIG\_VERSION The PCRE2 version (a string)

The function yields a non-negative value on success or the negative value PCRE2\_ERROR\_BADOPTION otherwise. This is also the result for the PCRE2\_CONFIG\_JITTARGET code if JIT support is not available. When a string is requested, the function returns the number of code units used, including the terminating zero.

There is a complete description of the PCRE2 native API in the **pcre2api** page and a description of the POSIX API in the **pcre2posix** page.

03 September 2025 PCRE2 10.49

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Document: pcre2_config(3) from pcre2 10.49-r2 (Chainguard OS)
Source: https://github.com/PCRE2Project/pcre2.git